William Kyle Rote Jr. (born December 25, 1950) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

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who played seven seasons in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

(NASL) and earned five

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with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international Association football, soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is ...

between 1973 and 1975. He led the NASL in scoring in 1973. He later coached the

Memphis Americans The Memphis Americans were a soccer team based in Memphis, Tennessee that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1981 to 1984. Their home arena was the Mid-South Coliseum. A new version of the team played in 2021 at ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He is a member of the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...

Family background

Rote Jr. is the son of

Kyle Rote William Kyle Rote Sr. (October 27, 1928 – August 15, 2002) was an American professional football player who was a running back and wide receiver for eleven years in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants. He was an All-A ...

, an

all-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

who also played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

as wide receiver for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. In fact, Rote Jr. remembers his father's positive reaction when he (Rote Jr.) changed sports in college, remembering his father as saying, “If that’s what you want to do, I’m going to support you in that. Don’t feel like you need to follow in my footsteps. You make your own footsteps.” Rote Jr. says of his father, “He really freed me up.” Rote Jr.’s cousin-once-removed

Tobin Rote Tobin Cornelius Rote (January 18, 1928 – June 27, 2000) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadia ...

played in the NFL, quarterbacking for four different teams.

Youth

While in high school, Rote Jr. helped to start the Black Bandits in the Dallas youth soccer league. One of his goals of playing soccer was to stay in shape during the off-season to American tackle football. And in fact, he received the “All-Texas” honor for both quarterback and defensive back in tackle football. Rote Jr. graduated from Highland Park High School in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, in 1968. He attended

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

initially intending to concentrate on

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

. But after receiving a broken leg in football practice, he decided to switch sports to soccer. He transferred to the

University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee, United States. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an off ...

Sewanee, Tennessee Sewanee () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,535 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Winchester, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sewanee is best known as the home ...

, then one of the few universities in the southern U.S. with a varsity soccer program, in large part because his best friends from high school were already there. And Rote Jr. felt the two of them could help the program. In addition, Rote Jr. also competed in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

while at the University of the South.

Professional

Rote was discovered by legendary sports businessman

Lamar Hunt Lamar Hunt Sr. (August 2, 1932 – December 13, 2006) was an American businessman most notable for his promotion of football, soccer, and tennis in the United States. With his brothers, he also attempted to corner the silver market. He was t ...

, who was searching for an American star to help market the newly established

(NASL). Rote Jr. also played a number of scrimmages against the Tornado during college breaks. The

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. T ...

selected Rote in the first round of the 1972 draft. He spent the 1972 season on the bench before becoming a starter in 1973. That season, he became the first American ever to lead the league in scoring (and the only U.S.-born player to do so in the NASL's 17-year history) and was named the Rookie of the Year. In October 1978, the

Houston Hurricane The Houston Hurricane was a soccer team based out of Houston that played in the NASL. They played from 1978 to 1980. Their home field was the Astrodome. Their colors were orange, white and red. History The team was the last of six expansion ...

purchased Rote's contract from the Tornado for $250,000. He played the 1979 season with Houston, then announced his retirement in February 1980. Rote Jr. won the

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

Superstars A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity. Superstar or superstars may also refer to: People * "Superstar" Krishna (1943–2022), Indian film actor, director and producer in Telugu cinema * "Superstar" Mahesh Babu (born 1975), Indian actor * ...

'' competition in 1974, 1975, and 1977.''The Guardian'' (UK)
"The forgotten story of ... Kyle Rote Jr, America's first soccer Superstar,"
Michael Lewis, February 24, 2015. Rote Jr. earned a total of $185,000 from his three Superstars victories. This compared to $8,000 a year as a U.S. soccer player. He also received “several times my soccer salary” in commercial endorsements. Out of respect for his teammates, he did not upgrade to expensive clothes or an expensive car, although he said, “When you’re young, you’re married, you’re just trying to get started, so it helped us financially, no question about that.” Some U.S. players only received around $2,000 a year, which was below the U.S. poverty line at the time. While with the Dallas Tornado, Rote Jr. and several teammates would sometimes fly in a day early to promote their team and the sport of soccer overall. This might cause them to miss last-minute practices, but they were willing to do so for the long-term interests of both the Tornado and the sport of soccer in the United States.

Coach

In August 1983, Rote took over as head coach of the

of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). At the time, he was the team's general manager. When the team moved to

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, during the 1984 off-season, Rote chose to remain in Memphis. In July 1984, the Dallas Sidekicks offered him the position of head coach, but Rote declined.

Business and post-soccer career

As an active player, Kyle worked with Jokari, Inc, to revive the Kickari which became the Kikari during 1978. Like the paddle game, the Kikari was a specialized soccer ball attached to weighted base (or stake) via an elastic string. Kyle worked with Jim Brown at Jokari for tournaments and also endorsed the Jokari distributed

Subbuteo Subbuteo ( ) is a tabletop football game in which players simulate association football by flicking miniature players with their fingers. The name is derived from the Neo-Latin scientific name '' Falco subbuteo'' (a bird of prey commonly known a ...

for the U.S. market. Kyle authored the book ''Improve Your Soccer With Kikari''. Kyle also endorsed a sports drink, Nutrament. After his retirement, Rote became a sports agent. He currently lives in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, and is the founder and chief executive officer of Athletic Resource Management, Inc., representing professional and post-collegiate athletes and coaches in football and basketball. Rote also works as a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

. Rote hosted a local quiz show called '' News Channel 3 Knowledge Bowl'' for many years before

WREG-TV WREG-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Channel 3 Drive near the Mississippi River on the west side of Memphis ...

meteorologist Jim Jaggers took over as host.

Personal life

Rote is married to Mary Lynne Lykins and has four children: Will, John, Josie and Ben. In 2009, he was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. On April 10, 2009, the

announced that Rote was selected for induction into the Hall of Fame.

References

External links

NASL career stats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rote, Kyle, Jr 1950 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Dallas Tornado players Houston Hurricane players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches NFL announcers National Soccer Hall of Fame members North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players New York Jets announcers SMU Mustangs men's soccer players Soccer players from Dallas United States men's international soccer players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) commentators Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) commentators Men's association football forwards Sewanee Tigers men's soccer players Sewanee Tigers men's track and field athletes 20th-century American sportsmen